Is Climate Destabilization the greatest moral issue today? - Atheist Nexus2017-12-14T01:09:57Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/is-climate-destabilization-the-greatest-moral-issue-today?groupUrl=atheistmorality&overrideMobileRedirect=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noClimate and Ethics has a vide…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-11-06:2182797:Comment:20944492012-11-06T00:24:14.016ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a href="http://blogs.law.widener.edu/climate/2012/10/15/five-grave-communications-failures-of-the-us-media-on-climate-change/" target="_blank">Climate and Ethics</a> has a video by Donald Brown, Sustainability Ethics and Law Scholar at Widener University School of Law</p>
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<blockquote><p><strong>Climate change is a civilization challenging ethical and moral problem and this understanding has enormous practical significance for policy.</strong></p>
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<p><a href="http://blogs.law.widener.edu/climate/2012/10/15/five-grave-communications-failures-of-the-us-media-on-climate-change/" target="_blank">Climate and Ethics</a> has a video by Donald Brown, Sustainability Ethics and Law Scholar at Widener University School of Law</p>
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<blockquote><p><strong>Climate change is a civilization challenging ethical and moral problem and this understanding has enormous practical significance for policy.</strong></p>
</blockquote> Wow -Ruth! I really like the…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-10-27:2182797:Comment:20879102012-10-27T15:03:22.577ZSteph S.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/StephS
<p>Wow -Ruth! I really like the GIF you made here. I will check out that article.</p>
<p>Wow -Ruth! I really like the GIF you made here. I will check out that article.</p> Bill McKibben's road show foc…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-10-27:2182797:Comment:20876702012-10-27T00:13:36.390ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>Bill McKibben's road show focuses on <strong>moral outrage</strong> at the fossil fuel industry.</p>
<p><a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/cue-the-math-mckibbens-roadshow-takes-aim-at-big-oil/" target="_blank">Cue the math: McKibben’s roadshow takes aim at Big Oil</a></p>
<blockquote><p>... <strong>the fossil fuel industry is prepared to cook humanity off the planet unless somebody stops it</strong>.</p>
<p>... sheer moral outrage at ... deep, intolerable injustice. The movements that…</p>
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<p>Bill McKibben's road show focuses on <strong>moral outrage</strong> at the fossil fuel industry.</p>
<p><a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/cue-the-math-mckibbens-roadshow-takes-aim-at-big-oil/" target="_blank">Cue the math: McKibben’s roadshow takes aim at Big Oil</a></p>
<blockquote><p>... <strong>the fossil fuel industry is prepared to cook humanity off the planet unless somebody stops it</strong>.</p>
<p>... sheer moral outrage at ... deep, intolerable injustice. The movements that change the world are moral struggles.</p>
<p>“There’s always been <strong>this slight unreality to the whole climate change thing</strong>,” he continued. “<strong>Because most people, at some level, kept thinking</strong> — and rightly so — <em>Yeah, but no one will ever actually do this. <strong>No one will actually, knowingly, destroy the planet by climate change.</strong></em> <strong>But once you’ve seen those numbers, it’s clear, that’s exactly what they’re knowingly planning to do.</strong> So that changes the equation, you know?” [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Slq3hF4R3fmZfWDrIri2y3wvqmum3JoRENWTTUY7TedA6VM9YTmPHaZjfjI*RAyhuEmjZ8HDqEUdjEg6asdRThQ*J*b7tupu/knowinglydestroy.gif"><img class="align-center" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/Slq3hF4R3fmZfWDrIri2y3wvqmum3JoRENWTTUY7TedA6VM9YTmPHaZjfjI*RAyhuEmjZ8HDqEUdjEg6asdRThQ*J*b7tupu/knowinglydestroy.gif" width="450"/></a></p> Kelly Rigg shares points from…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-10-17:2182797:Comment:20803882012-10-17T03:37:40.082ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>Kelly Rigg shares points from a keynote speech by Jigar Shah.</p>
<p><a href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-10-14-JigarShawccKellyRiggTckTckTck.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-10-14-JigarShawccKellyRiggTckTckTck.jpg?width=450" width="450"></img></a></p>
<blockquote><p>... the <a href="http://daraint.org/climate-vulnerability-monitor/climate-vulnerability-monitor-2012/monitor/" target="_hplink">2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor</a> whose authors…</p>
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<p>Kelly Rigg shares points from a keynote speech by Jigar Shah.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-10-14-JigarShawccKellyRiggTckTckTck.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-10-14-JigarShawccKellyRiggTckTckTck.jpg?width=450" width="450"/></a></p>
<blockquote><p>... the <a href="http://daraint.org/climate-vulnerability-monitor/climate-vulnerability-monitor-2012/monitor/" target="_hplink">2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor</a> whose authors <a href="http://daraint.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/CVM_RELEASE_FINAL_ENGLISH.pdf" target="_hplink">estimate</a> that around 400,000 people are dying every year due to hunger and communicable diseases aggravated by climate change and that another 4.5 million or so die from air pollution.</p>
<p>These are shocking figures by any standard, but were we, the public, truly shocked? <strong>The problem with the climate movement, according to Shah, is our failure to effectively communicate and mobilize around a powerful sense of moral outrage:</strong></p>
<p>"<strong>People aren't getting mercury in their bloodstream because</strong> we're dumping thermometers in the river. It's coming from toxic fuels like coal. <strong>We allow companies to dump their externalities into our health care system</strong>, which we pay real money for.</p>
<p>... it doesn't give me hope we can defeat the 6° agenda. We are never going to win this battle with technology alone. <strong>If we can't make the case that in essence we are trading off human lives for the economy, we're going to lose, and lose badly. We have lost our outrage.</strong>" [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><br/><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-rigg/killing-us-with-coal-why-_b_1965311.html?utm_hp_ref=green" target="_blank">Killing Us With Coal: Why Do We Let Them Do It?</a></p> "This culture is an ecologic…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-10-03:2182797:Comment:20670852012-10-03T23:10:01.702ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165833_456874130993640_203952328_n.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165833_456874130993640_203952328_n.jpg?width=450" width="450"/></a></p>
<p>"This culture is an ecological serial killer." *sigh* Yes, but change is scary.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165833_456874130993640_203952328_n.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/165833_456874130993640_203952328_n.jpg?width=450" width="450"/></a></p>
<p>"This culture is an ecological serial killer." *sigh* Yes, but change is scary.</p> Franz Matzner agrees with you…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-08-23:2182797:Comment:20359382012-08-23T19:36:12.046ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>Franz Matzner agrees with you Jedi Wanderer, that</p>
<blockquote><p>The super-rich are the one's who are by far doing the most damage, and they are also the ones in the best position to do something about it,...</p>
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<p><a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/media/photo-fmatzner-contributor.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/media/photo-fmatzner-contributor.jpg"></img></a></p>
<blockquote><p>Some will argue that if burning fossil fuels is ethically wrong, then we’re all collectively guilty. It’s either no one’s fault or…</p>
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<p>Franz Matzner agrees with you Jedi Wanderer, that</p>
<blockquote><p>The super-rich are the one's who are by far doing the most damage, and they are also the ones in the best position to do something about it,...</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/media/photo-fmatzner-contributor.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/media/photo-fmatzner-contributor.jpg"/></a></p>
<blockquote><p>Some will argue that if burning fossil fuels is ethically wrong, then we’re all collectively guilty. It’s either no one’s fault or everyone’s. At a certain transcendent level, there is some truth to that.</p>
<p><strong>There are those</strong>, however, <strong>whose actions have far more sweeping impact and it is on these actors that the true focus must fall.</strong> It’s a matter of scale. Their choices carry greater weight, so their level of culpability is that much starker. The consumer who bought clothes made from cotton during the slave-era bore less responsibility than the plantation owner or the politician who led the charge against abolition. Factory owners who fought child-labor laws were more culpable than consumers who bought a product from the factory—especially if they had no other option. It is no different with fossil fuels. The driver with no access to mass transit who fills his tank to get to work in the morning can shoulder only so much responsibility. The oil company executive who signs off on a campaign denying climate science is committing a grave choice and is fully responsible. </p>
<p>Two recent NRDC reports illustrate the point in concrete terms. Some utilities chose to respect the Clean Air Act and modernize, <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/toxic-power-presentation.asp">resulting in significant cuts in dangerous pollution</a>, while others <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/files/Price-of-Pollution-Politics.pdf">chose to spend millions and file lawsuits</a> in an effort to keep pumping pollution into our communities. In a similar vein, it’s often those same voices of power that spend millions to shift responsibility to the public.</p>
<p>The same choice played out in Congress repeatedly last year. Voting on whether to uphold or tear down children’s right to breathe clean air, Senators from the same state, representing the same people, with access to the same facts chose different paths.</p>
<p>The point here is that <strong>powerful individuals -- CEOs, legislators, politicians—all have a clear choice to make</strong>. There is no insurmountable, magical hand forcing corporate CEOs, politicians, and business owners to keep polluting.</p>
<p><strong>It’s a matter of ethics, the stakes are incredibly high</strong>, and no one should shy away from holding those accountable who continue to inflict suffering instead of combating it. [emphasis mine]</p>
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<p><a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/fmatzner/climate_change_sos_which_side.html" target="_blank">Climate Change SOS: Which Side Are You On</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/community_images//54/34954/9690_15170.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/community_images//54/34954/9690_15170.jpg"/></a></p> In What climate change is rea…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-08-22:2182797:Comment:20349622012-08-22T18:38:26.729ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>In <a href="http://blogs.redding.com/dcraig/archives/2012/08/what-climate-ch.html" target="_blank">What climate change is really about</a> Doug Craig introduces a book where many important figures argue the moral grounds of sustainablity.</p>
<blockquote><p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Ground-Ethical-Action-Planet/dp/1595340661"><em>Moral Ground, Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril,</em></a> <strong>"Eighty visionaries--theologians and religious leaders, scientists, elected…</strong></p>
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<p>In <a href="http://blogs.redding.com/dcraig/archives/2012/08/what-climate-ch.html" target="_blank">What climate change is really about</a> Doug Craig introduces a book where many important figures argue the moral grounds of sustainablity.</p>
<blockquote><p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Ground-Ethical-Action-Planet/dp/1595340661"><em>Moral Ground, Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril,</em></a> <strong>"Eighty visionaries--theologians and religious leaders, scientists, elected officials, business leaders, naturalists, activists, and writers"</strong> including the Dalai Lama, Thomas Friedman, Thich Naht Hanh, Pope John Paul II, E.O. Wilson, Paul Hawken, and Thomas Berry, <strong>"present a diverse and compelling call to honor our individual and collective moral responsibility to our planet."</strong></p>
<p><strong>...</strong>The missing premise of the argument and much-needed center piece in the debate to date has been the need for ethical values, moral guidance, and principled reasons for doing the right thing for our planet, its animals, its plants, and its people."<br/></p>
<p><strong><strong><strong>We are called to understand that climate change is a moral challenge, not simply an economic or technological problem.</strong></strong></strong></p>
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<p><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328752930l/7894462.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328752930l/7894462.jpg"/></a></p> Under a Green Sky and Eaarth…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-08-22:2182797:Comment:20349112012-08-22T18:31:31.132ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>Under a Green Sky and Eaarth have both been influential for me, John. Thanks for the other references.</p>
<p>One MIT study predicted we'd have a little more time before the Venus effect would kick in than Peter Ward thought. Sorry I lost the reference.</p>
<p>Under a Green Sky and Eaarth have both been influential for me, John. Thanks for the other references.</p>
<p>One MIT study predicted we'd have a little more time before the Venus effect would kick in than Peter Ward thought. Sorry I lost the reference.</p> There are discussions about c…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-08-22:2182797:Comment:20350702012-08-22T18:27:11.698ZRuth Anthony-Gardnerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/RuthAnthonyGardner
<p>There are discussions about climate destabilization on <a href="http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/environmentalatheists" target="_blank">Eco-Logical</a> and there's a new group <a href="http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/climate-concerns" target="_blank">Climate Concerns</a>.</p>
<p>There are discussions about climate destabilization on <a href="http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/environmentalatheists" target="_blank">Eco-Logical</a> and there's a new group <a href="http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/climate-concerns" target="_blank">Climate Concerns</a>.</p> Is there a climate change (de…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-04-07:2182797:Comment:19176532012-04-07T11:28:39.966ZJedi Wandererhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AaronFeldman
<p>Is there a climate change (destabilization) group on A|N yet?</p>
<p>Is there a climate change (destabilization) group on A|N yet?</p>